Artist · chart history
The Plimsouls
Band Paramount United States Active 1978–2007
The Plimsouls formed in 1978 in Paramount, United States and was active until 2007. The Plimsouls has 53 chart appearances on 51 radio countdowns from 14 stations on RockLists, spanning 1980–2025. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “A Million Miles Away”, which appears on 47 lists with a best position of #44. The station that charted The Plimsouls most often is CD101 (Columbus, OH), with 14 appearances. The artist’s biggest year on year-end countdowns was 1980.
The Plimsouls started out in Paramount, California, in 1978, when Peter Case, fresh from fronting the power pop band the Nerves, put together a trio called the Tone Dogs with bassist Dave Pahoa and drummer Lou Ramírez. The name they settled on was a twist on the plimsoll, a canvas shoe that was big in Britain and a favorite of the Beatles.
They won over the Los Angeles clubs fast. Long Beach promoter Stephen Zepeda put out the five-song Zero Hour EP on his Beat Records in 1980, with Danny Holloway producing and managing; guitarist Eddie Muñoz joined during the sessions, though he isn't on the record. The title track caught fire on KROQ, and the self-titled album followed in 1981 with "Now".
Then came "A Million Miles Away", the song that defines them: ringing guitars, a racing pulse and Case sounding like he's sprinting after something he'll never catch. It landed in the movie Valley Girl in 1983, the same year Everywhere at Once gave it an album to live on. Two albums and an EP make for a short shelf, and the band broke up, but different versions of the original lineup have reunited now and then, and that one song has never stopped running.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs by The Plimsouls on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Peak year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A Million Miles Away | 47 | #44 | – | – | |
| 2 | A Million Miles | 2 | #344 | – | – | |
| 3 | How Long Will It Take? | 1 | #1097 | – | – | |
| 4 | Now | 2 | #102 | – | 1981 | |
| 5 | Zero Hour | 1 | #101 | – | 1980 |
Albums with charting songs
Where each song was first released, from MusicBrainz.
Year-end chart timeline
Combined year-end countdown points per year. Taller bars mean more songs placing higher across more stations.
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